Jewel

Best-selling singer-songwriter Jewel's career as a versatile pop, adult contemporary, and country music recording artist led to a second outlet as a television personality and outspoken activist. She...
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Lady Gaga is opening up about her recent engagement to actor beau Taylor Kinney for the first time, revealing he proposed to her with a candy ring. The Chicago Fire star popped the question to his longtime girlfriend on Valentine's Day (14Feb15), but before presenting her with an impressive diamond engagement ring, he jokingly pulled out a fake jewel made out of hard candy.
The pop star tells Access Hollywood, "First he gave me a Ring Pop. That was kind of amazing and I was crying, I was so excited. I said, 'Yes!' right away and then he pulled out the heart-shaped diamond. First it was candy. I was happy with the candy."
The ring Kinney eventually put on Gaga's finger was custom designed by himself and celebrity jeweller Lorraine Schwartz. It boasts a large heart-shaped diamond, along with white diamonds on the band that spell out 'T (loves) S', a nod to Gaga's real name, Stefani Germanotta.
Gaga, who met Kinney when he played her love interest in the music video for her single You and I, adds that she always knew he was the one.
She says, "From the moment I met him, my heart was with him. The engagement makes everything better. When you're in love and have love it makes everything better."

Top session bassist Tim Drummond has died, aged 74. The musician, who regularly collaborated with Neil Young and Bob Dylan, passed away on Sunday (11Jan15).
Drummond began his career in country and R&B in the 1960s, performing and recording with the likes of Conway Twitty and James Brown, before he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he became an in-demand session player.
He became a member of Young's Stray Gators band when the rocker recorded Harvest in Nashville, and also toured with Young and with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He also recorded with CSN and Crosby and Nash.
While touring with CSNY in the mid-1970s, Drummond met Dylan and joined his band, co-writing the song Saved for the folk-rock icon.
The bass player also performed and recorded with J.J. Cale, Ry Cooder, Bette Midler, Paula Abdul and Jewel.

Singer/songwriter Jewel is set to open up about her years as a homeless hopeful, motherhood and her marriage to rodeo star Ty Murray in a new book. The 40 year old has signed a deal with Penguin Random House imprint Blue Rider Press for a memoir, which is scheduled for release later this year (15).
Jewel has been a regular on the U.S. and world charts since the release of her first album Pieces of You 20 years ago. She also tasted literary success in 1998 when her poetry book A Night Without Armor sold over one million copies.

Blues singer Alberta Adams has died, aged 97. The star, who performed alongside fellow legends such as John Lee Hooker, Big Maceo and Duke Ellington, passed away in Detroit, Michigan on Christmas Day (25Dec14).
Born Roberta Louise Osborne in Indiana, Adams moved to Detroit as a youth, and began her career as a tap dancer in city clubs.
A chance to step in for an ailing Kitty Stevenson led to a five-year contract as a singer.
She became known as Detroit's Queen of the Blues and recorded with Chicago's Chess Records during the 1950s.
Detroit Blues Society spokesman Steve Allen says, "Alberta was, without question, the Queen of Detroit blues. She always had a kind word or offered encouragement to up-and-comers. A true jewel in an ugly business. She leaves a giant space that may never quite be filled."

Fall Out Boy star Patrick Stump has signed on to replace Ben Folds as a judge on U.S. a cappella talent show The Sing-Off. Folds is touring the globe and pulled out of the two-hour special, which will air on 17 December (14), and so producers asked singer Stump to take his place alongside returning judges Jewel and Boyz II Men's Shawn Stockman.
The Fall Out Boy star is not new to TV talent shows - earlier this week (beg24Nov14), he joined Adam Levine as a mentor on America's The Voice.

Veteran British actor Warren Clarke has died, aged 67. The A Clockwork Orange star passed away in his sleep after a "short illness", according to his representatives at the Independent Talent Group.
Clarke shot to fame in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 dystopian movie and went on to work with its star Malcolm McDowell on two more projects, 1973 film O Lucky Man! and 1985 TV movie Gulag.
He also appeared in Charlton Heston's epic Antony and Cleopatra in 1972, Enigma with Martin Sheen, 1984 war spoof Top Secret!, and Clint Eastwood's 1982 action movie Firefox.
Clarke also carved out a successful career in British TV, appearing in hit U.K. shows such as Coronation Street, The Jewel in the Crown, Blackadder, and Hammer House of Horror, but he is best known for his long-running role as Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel in crime show Dalziel and Pascoe. The series ran from 1996 until 2007.
At the time of his death, Clarke had been due to appear in a new adaptation of Poldark. He is believed to have completed filming earlier this year (14) ahead of a planned broadcast in 2015.
Following the sad news, Clarke's fellow British stars took to Twitter.com to pay tribute to the beloved actor.
Withnail & I star Richard E. Grant wrote, "Shocked to hear that Warren Clarke has died. Worked with him twice and shared a holiday in the Caribbean. Hilarious and irreverent", and Quadrophenia actor Phil Davis added, "Very sad to hear that Warren Clarke died yesterday. We did Moving Stories together in the 90s and recently Poldark. A fine actor, lovely man."
Actor Reece Shearsmith wrote, "RIP Warren Clarke. A very funny and lovely man", screen star David Morrissey tweeted, "So sad to hear about the death of Warren Clarke. He was a very special man/a great actor. We had wonderful times together on Red Riding. RIP", and comedian Jack Dee added, "Really sad news that Warren Clarke has died. A brilliant, funny and generous man who was a joy to work with."

A lunch date with Mike Myers sold for $50,000 (£31,250) at Sir Elton John's annual AIDS Foundation benefit on Tuesday (28Oct14). The comedy actor was quick to jump on stage and offer bidders the chance to win a date with him, after newsmen Anderson Cooper and Matt Lauer proffered a "great anchor sandwich" luncheon, which sold for $40,000 (£25,000).
Myers was determined not to be outdone, and he was delighted when his offer of dinner attracted a winning bid of $50,000.
The Rocket Man hosted his 13th annual charity event at Cipriani on Wall Street, New York, but remained seated for most of the night as he is recovering from a knee operation.
He took to the stage at the end of the evening to perform his hits Tiny Dancer and Your Song for guests including Neil Patrick Harris, Alec Baldwin, Brooke Shields and singer Jewel.
Other lots in the charity sale included a Damien Hirst painting, which fetched $270,000 (£168,750), and a Robert Mapplethorpe piece, which sold for $90,000 (£56,250).

"It's going good with me and (Kase)'s mum. She and I always think of Kase first. It's been great, it truly has. I feel really fortunate and lucky for that... I do feel like we are friends. That's really important to me on a lot of levels. We're all in a really good spot and we're all getting all our needs met." Rodeo star Ty Murray is glad he and his estranged wife Jewel, mother to his son Kase, are still on good terms following their split in July (14).

Singer Jewel is staying positive about her marriage split, insisting she's "heartened" by the way she and her estranged husband Ty Murray are planning their divorce. The star announced the break-up on her official website in July (14), revealing she and the retired bull riding champion had decided to divorce after six years of marriage.
She wrote, "Ty and I have always tried to live the most authentic life possible, and we wanted our separation as husband and wife to be nothing less loving than the way we came together. For some time we have been engaged in a private and difficult, but thoughtful and tender undoing of ourselves."
She added, "Our dedication to our son is unwavering and we are both committed to being the best partners in raising our son. Due to the spirit in which we have gone about this separation, we trust we can remain dear friends who hold each other in high esteem, which is so important to us as parents - as we wish only what is best for our son."
Now, two months after the post, Jewel reveals things are going well and both she and Murray are committed to doing what's best for their three-year-old son Kase.
She tells U.S. news show Access Hollywood Live, "It's (divorce) such a difficult thing... but I feel really fortunate for the position that he and I are in because we're such great friends and we're really great parents, and that's the number one thing we care about, so I really feel so blessed to be in that position."
"We really feel like this is the best thing for us; we feel it's the best thing for Kase and that everybody, hopefully, will win if we can go through this in the right way, which I feel really heartened that we are."

Earned a Grammy nomination for the song "Satisfied" from her album Sweet And Wild

Penned her autobiography, Chasing Down the Dawn

Released her debut album, Pieces of You with the singles "You Were Meant for Me" and "Who Will Save Your Soul"

Signed with Atlantic Records

Released the documentary DVD, "Jewel: A Life Uncommon," featuring live performances and candid interviews

Discovered by Inga Vainshtein, while performing at the Innerchange Coffeehouse in San Diego

Dropped from Atlantic Records, after they failed to renew her contract

Released her sixth album, Goodbye Alice In Wonderland

Joined the eighth season of ABC’s reality competition, "Dancing with the Stars"; pulled out before the first episode due to an injury

Began writing songs at the age of seventeen

Signed to Valory Records, which specializes in country music and is a division of Big Machine Records label

Released her debut country album, Perfectly Clear

Summary

Best-selling singer-songwriter Jewel's career as a versatile pop, adult contemporary, and country music recording artist led to a second outlet as a television personality and outspoken activist. She was born Jewel Kilcher on May 23, 1974, and raised in rural Homer, AK, where she showed an early talent for singing and regularly accompanied her folk musician/music teacher father onstage at venues. Her musicianship was further nurtured with opera training at the famed Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, after which Jewel joined her mother in San Diego and quickly built up a local following with regular coffeehouse performances of her original material. When the bohemian young folkie became the object of a record label bidding war, she ultimately signed with Atlantic and released her 1995 debut <i>Pieces of You</i> which spawned mega hits "Who Will Save Your Soul?" and "You Were Meant for Me." The album spent nearly two years on the <i>Billboard</i> charts and sold over 12 million copies, making Jewel one of the most popular of the era's flood of guitar-wielding female singers.

built his own airplane and developed a business flying visitors to hunting areas

Arva Carroll

Grandmother

pioneer wife and mother of four children

Christopher Douglas

Companion

reportedly dating as of autumn 1998; no longer together

Michel Francoeur

Companion

French-Canadian; together for 18-months, c. 1996-98

Atz Kilcher

Father

Swiss-German

Atz Kilcher

Brother

born c. 1977

Shane Kilcher

Brother

born c. 1971

Yule Kilcher

Grandfather

Swiss-born; emmigrated to Alaska, the last territory where the Homestead Act (which granted free land) was still in effect; spoke 12 languages; documented the homesteading experience on 16mm film; served as delegate to convention that wrote state's constitution; later served as a representative in the state legislature; died on December 8, 1998 at age 85

Ruth Kilcher

Grandmother

one of the first female journalists in Alaska, writing a column about homesteading in an Anchorage daily; homeschooled their eight children

Romantically linked when he directed a music video for her 1996 single "You Were Meant For Me"; Jewel later re-filmed video featuring Steve Poltz; No longer together

Steve Poltz

Companion

lead singer with the Rugburns, a well-known San Diego band; co-writer (with Jewel) of songs "You Were Meant For Me" and "Adrian" which were featured on "Pieces of You", Jewel's first album

Education

Name

Interlochen Arts Academy

Notes

In 1998, formed a non-profit organization called Higher Ground For Humanity with her mother Lenedra J. Carroll and her older brother Shane Kilcher. The organization's focus is education, sustainable improvements, and building alliances with like-minded organizations.

"I'm determined to learn the process of fame and act human at the same time." - Jewel quoted in People magazine, May 6, 1996

"I'm just a person who is honestly living my life and asking, 'How do you be spiritual and live in the world without going to a monastery?'" - Jewel to Rolling Stone magazine, May 15, 1997

"I've noticed a belief that somehow optimism lacks intelligence, and that optimism must stem, then, from a lack of experience and naivete. I don't believe that. I believe optimism is a choice, cynicism isn't smarter; it's safer. Innocence isn't really ever lost; we just need to maintain it. I'm constantly looking for ways to maintain it in myself. In the press, people are always going to take on someone, and perhaps they'll never get who any of us are. But the fans get it. Music is not a casual thing for people. It helps them through very serious things. I'm not interested in much else. I know the fame might come and go. But I'm really interested in keeping my life worth living, keeping it aligned to a certain kind of integrity with which I can face each day. This isn't a luxury for me. It started out as survival, and when you see what it does for people, how can you be selfish with it." - Jewel quoted to Interview magazine, July 1997